Some clarifications, now that the press release is out:
—IRS apparently can't force states to participate, but they'll work with every state that's interested —Yes, IRS plans to expand the software to include "most common tax situations"
I used it this year and aside from a little clunky interface issues I was very happy with it and am glad it will come back next year. It saved me a good clip of money. That, combined with California's free e-file, I was able to do my taxes for free for the first time in decades.
I do hope this opens potential new jobs for people.
For a program like this, they're going to need some financial accountants* and most definitely IT (hardware, software, help desk, user experience, server equipment, and databases). There's more, but those two were at the top of my head.